Nightfall
by slivershell
Summary: After a few years of living with his mom, Sora moves in with his dad. At his new home, he never expected to have new car, to make a lot friends on the first day, and he definately never expected to fall in love with a vampire. Destinyshipping!
1. Welcome Home

Hello all! I am new to this section of FFdotnet! How are you all? Okay so this is basically a rewrite of Twilight with KH and FF characters. And it's yaoi! WHOO!!! I rather enjoyed the first the book and the movie, so I decided to do this for those that too enjoyed the book and movie.

Well I guess that's it. Not much of an intro. So please enjoy. Oh yeah. If you don't like it, don't read it. Plain and simple.

_Nightfall_

_Chapter One_

_Welcome Home_

The sound of breaking glass echoed throughout the small building. Someone's heavy breathing followed not long after that. This someone was a young man around fifteen years old. His brown chocolate colored, spiked hair stared to get dark in the back. He reached to feel the spot and brought his hand to his line of vision. Red.

His head snapped up when heard calm footsteps approach him and his blue eyes found his attacker. So he was going to die here. He never thought this is how he would go, but if he was going to die for the one he loved, he didn't mind so much.

/…/

A few months before the event, the same brown haired young man was zipping up his last suit case. Though he was really excited to live with his dad, he would miss Density Island. He had come to love the sun and the heat and the people. He had gone out with his friends the night before as way of saying good-bye.

His parents had been divorced since he was young. He remembered his mom saying something about being trapped when she explained it to him. When it came to deciding with whom he should live with, his dad told him that he should go with his mom. He mentioned something about him watching over her and protecting her and to be a big boy. So he went to live with his mom, Tifa.

Years later, Tifa met a man named Rufus ShinRa and got remarried. Rufus owned a big electric company and recently his father passed away, making him the president. So he has to move to the main corporation and now that he's president, he would have to travel a lot. Tifa is going with him of course and left her son to move in with his father, who he hadn't seen in while, in Gongaga.

"Sora," Tifa knocked on the door as she walked in his soon to be old room holding a cordless phone. "It's Zack."

Sora smiled as he took the phone and put it to his ear. "Hey Dad. We're about to leave for the airport now."

"Well that's good!" came Zack's cheerful reply. Sora could feel his dad smiling on the other side of the phone. "I got a huge surprise for you when you get here. And it has wheels."

"Wheels!? How many wheels? Please say two." On his last visit, Sora had been obsessed with the idea of owning a motorcycle. Tifa of course said no, but now that Sora was moving, she didn't have to know.

"You'll see when you get here." Zack said. Sora could picture the smug look on his face. "See you then!" The line went dead.

With a sigh, Sora pressed 'End' and tossed the phone on his bed. Grabbing his suit case, he left his old room.

/…/

The plane ride was longer than Sora remembered. Then again, he was wondering about his dad's surprise with wheels. He hoped it was motorcycle. His dad had one and could give him some lessons as Sora worked on his license.

He spotted Zack quickly and went over to him as fast as his luggage allowed. Zack laughed at his son as he struggled with his many bags. He was going help, but watching him was just so entertaining. After their reunion, Zack finally helped Sora with his bags.

"So, about the surprise with wheels," Sora said after Zack pulled out of the airport parking lot. "How many does it have?"

"It's not a motorbike," Zack told him. "I wouldn't trust you on one. You're way too clumsy for one."

Sora let out a disappointing sigh and pouted. He really was looking forward to a motorcycle.

"But you are going to love it anyway, trust me."

Sora did trust him. His dad knew his taste in cars and he would definitely pick out the right one for him. Sora was excited again, wondering what car his dad got him. Hopefully, it would be red. He always liked the color.

Eventually, Zack pulled up to the familiar small house. Nothing much has changed since his last visit except for the new door and new windows. Sora wondered if his room was still the same with his Transformers bed spread. How long has it been since his last visit? A couple years maybe.

"I got you new bedding," Zack said once he set some of Sora's suit cases down. "I think you're a little too old for Transformers. But it's in the attic just in case."

"Sweet," Sora said as he unzipped one of his suitcases to unpack. "Thanks Dad."

Zack nodded. "No problem. I'll be downstairs if you need me." He walked out of the room.

A few hours, later Sora was close to putting all of his things away when he heard a honk from outside. He looked out the window and saw a red car pull up. Two unfamiliar people stepped out, both had red hair. His dad went outside to greet them. Sora went downstairs and outside to see who they were.

"There he is!" said the red head male with green eyes, gesturing to Sora. "What's up Sora? It's been a while."

Sora blinked. "Umm…" Who was this guy? He gave Zack a questioning glance.

"This is Reno," Zack said slapping a hand on the man's shoulder.

"He doesn't remember? Well,it can't be helped if has his dad's attention span."

"What are you trying to say?" Zack asked in playful offense.

"That your attention span is zero," Reno said bluntly. "Let me know if I have to repeat it."

Sora watched the playful argument wondering if this happened whenever they saw each other.

"Don't worry about it," said a female voice. "They do this all the time."

Sora had almost forgotten about the other redhead. Her hair shade was similar to Reno, but her eyes were blue instead of green.

"I'm Kairi by the way. I'm sure you don't remember me either. We used to play when we were little."

"Sorry. My memory really isn't that good," Sora explained.

"So, Sora," Zack put his hand on the car. "What do you think?"

Sora looked at him with a confused look. "About what?" Zack said nothing as he smiled and tapped the car. Then it hit Sora and his jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Just bought it off Reno," Zack said. "It's a welcome home present."

Sora felt numb as he walked around the car to inspect it. It was an old Mitsubishi Lancer and more importantly, it was red! "This is perfect!"

Zack tossed him the keys. "Get a feel for it."

Using the key to unlock the door, Sora excitedly jumped in his new car. This surprise is amazing! It may not be a motorcycle, but it's just as good. He got out of the car with a huge smile on his face. "Thanks Dad. This is almost as good as a motorbike."

"Told you you'll still like it."

"We did a lot of work on her," Reno said, patting the car's trunk. "So take good care of her."

Sora nodded and looked at Kairi. "If you ever need a ride to school, let me know."

Kairi smiled sadly at him. "I go to a different school. Sorry."

Sora gave her an understanding nod. He was hoping that he would know at least one person at the new school. It's so awkward being the new kid in the middle of the semester. It happened before when Sora was younger after his parents got divorced. Sora sighed as he tossed his keys up in the air again.

It was going to be an awkward first day of school tomorrow.

/…/

So, first chapter. How did you like it? Any grammar problems? Please read and review! Geez, I'm not saying anything much… How boring. I'll try to be more entertaining next time in this author note thing. Hopefully, I'll see you then!


	2. Who Are They?

I'm back with chapter two! I hope people are enjoying this as well as I am. I'm having so much with this! Now I know what it means we people say chapters write themselves. This one practically did that. And I hope you all can enjoy!

I completely forgot the disclaimer in the last chapter so here it is! I don't own KH or Twilight. There. So don't sue.

_Nightfall_

_Chapter Two_

_Who Are They?_

Sora groaned and rolled over to turn off the blaring and very annoying alarm clock. He sat up, not wanting to fall back asleep accidently. He looked outside through his slightly open curtains and saw that it was gray outside. He might as well get use to it. The sun hardly ever shined in Gongaga. After checking the time, Sora decided to leave his warm and comfortable bed and get ready for school.

He found the school with no problems thanks to his dad leaving some directions on the table. There were already some students there, hanging outside before school started. Sora parked his car and plugged his head phones. He would really like to go through his first morning without any questions and blocking people out was the best way for him to do it. He couldn't just ignore people because then he would feel bad.

Sora found the front office quickly and entered. He introduced himself to the woman behind the desk as Sora Fair. He noticed that her eyes lit up. This was a small town and gossip could spread quickly, but he couldn't understand what would be so interesting about him coming back to live with his dad. She gave him his schedule, a map and a slip that all of his teachers had to sign. Probably to make sure he didn't cut on his first day of school.

Sora decided to use his free time to look around the school and find the classrooms for all of his classes. Easier said, than done. He got lost rather quickly. Curse his lack of sense of direction! Maybe he should blame that on his dad too. Thankfully, there was a student that was willing to help him out.

This student was wearing a big baggy red shirt with the words 'Dog Street' running down the left side with a pair of blue jeans. "Do you need some help?"

"Uh… yeah. I-" Sora was interrupted by the bell suddenly ringing.

"You're Sora Fair right?" The boy asked. Sora nodded. "I'm Pence. Mind if I see your schedule?" Sora gladly handed it over. Pence's face lit up. "We have the same first class! But it's in the opposite direction. What are you doing here?"

"I think I read it backwards…" No wonder he was confused! That also explains why the numbers weren't matching up.

Pence laughed and Sora wondered if the boy thought he was joking when he was being dead serious. "Come on," Pence said after he finally stopped laughing. "Let's get to class before we're late."

"Alright," Sora said with a shrug. They made it to class just in time. The bell rang again as soon as they entered. Sora went up to the teacher and gave him the slip he was supposed to sign. The teacher smiled, signed it and pointed at an empty seat next to a brown haired girl with green eyes wearing some bright clothes.

This class was English. Sora looked over the reading list and saw that he had already read most of the books at his old school. Good thing he brought all of his old school work with just for cases like this. The class went by very slowly. The bell finally rang and Pence offered to take him to his next class, which was gym.

Believe it or not, though Sora was very athletic, he just wasn't good at sports. When he was younger, his parents used to run a dojo together. That brought them together; they're love for martial arts. His mother would teach him some martial arts and his dad would teach him kendo. Sora quickly became a black belt and started to help his parents out some. When they got a divorce, Zack kept the dojo in Gongaga open and Tifa opened her own on Destiny Island. She had to close it down now since she moved. Now that he thought about it, it's been awhile since he did some kendo. He really wanted to get back in it again.

He has no idea how, but Sora somehow was on the floor with his head spinning. A blond haired boy offered his hand and Sora took it.

"Sorry about that, man. I thought you heard the heads up."

Sora shook his head, "Nope." Sports defiantly weren't his forte. Put him in his dad's dojo and he would outshine the class. The coach let Sora sit out for the rest of the class. Maybe he should get hit in the head every class so he wouldn't have to do anything.

After gym class, he had trig. He hated math in all shapes and forms and sizes. He sat next to the same the girl he did in his first class. She decided to introduce herself and Sora learned that her name was Olette. She was extremely helpful with his math. She explained things in way that made sense to Sora and called her a genius.

Once trig was over, Sora picked up the slip and walked to lunch with Olette. He was happy to sit at a table with some people that he had already met before, along with some new people. He already knew Pence and Olette. He had met Tidus in gym but he didn't know his name then. He was introduced to Hayner, a guy with crazy dirty blonde hair, Selphie, Olette's older sister with brown and green eyes, and Rinoa, a girl with black hair with brown highlights and dark eyes. Sora was about to chow down when a voice caught his attention.

"Aww, come on Roxy! Don't be mad."

Sora turned and saw a guy with flaming red and dark eyes following a blond boy that had a sour look on his face. His eyes were dark too. And both of them were pale, very pale. "Who are they?"

Rinoa followed his gaze and smiled. "That would be the Strife family. The redhead with the tattoos under his eyes is Axel and the blond one is Roxas. They're a 'thing'."

Two more very pale people entered the cafeteria. One was a female with short jet black hair and eyes. She was holding the other person's hand. This one was a male with dark brown hair and eyes. There was scar across his face.

"That is Yuffie and Leon," Rinoa explained. "She sometimes calls him Squall, so no one really knows what his name is and he always has a scowl on his face. They're together too which is kinda weird because there in the same family."

"They're not blood related," Olette said. "They're all foster kids of Doctor and Mrs. Strife."

Then one more person entered. He was just as pale as the others and his eyes were just as dark. His hair was long and silver, stopping a quarter of the way down his back. Sora's mouth hung open. He quickly closed it and turned around when the pale boy looked his way.

Rinoa did the same with a giggle. "That's Riku and he's single. But he doesn't date. He thinks he's just too good for us… Like I care."

Sora could sense some bitterness in her voice. She probably tried to get to know him and got rejected. He turned a bit to look at the table where the family sat. Roxas still looked a little a mad and Leon still had a scowl on his face. Riku seemed to be talking to Yuffie, but then he looked over at Sora. He was sure he had stopped breathing. His face was hard and his eyes were intense; it was a bit intimidating. Then there was a hint of amusement in his expression for some reason.

"Sora, you're drooling!"

He quickly turned away with a blush and took the napkin that Olette gave him to wipe his mouth. What a first impression he made.

/…/

Lunch was over and Olette was walking Sora to his next class with Tidus. These two were really easy to talk to. Sora just hated awkward silence when there was a conversation, but he never got that with these two.

When they entered the classroom, Olette and Tidus left Sora and went to their own seats. Something caught Sora's eye. Riku was there. Great, the guy that just saw him drooling was in the same class with him. The teacher tripped over the cord to the fan just as Sora walked in front of it. He plugged it back in and the air hit Sora at full blast. The teacher had to turn it down before he could sign the slip.

Sora took this time to steal another glance at Riku. He pale boy looked like he was sick. He had clamped his hand tightly over his nose and mouth like he was going the throw up. What could make him so sick so suddenly?

The teacher gave Sora everything he needed and pointed to the empty seat next to Riku. Sora wasn't so sure about sitting there. As he approached the seat he noticed Riku moving over closer the edge of the table. Was he making him sick? Sora sat down and wondered if he showered this morning. He lifted up his jacket and took a whiff. He showered alright. That green tea smell was still there.

He looked over at Riku, only to regret it. He was glaring at him, his eyes filled with nothing but hatred and revulsion. Sora looked away almost immediately. He noticed that his eyes had some green mixed in with the black color. Did he do something wrong? He did drool some, but he didn't look upset at all about it.

The lecture was on the anatomy of cells, something Sora was familiar with. He took notes here and there trying to ignore the glare that Riku was still giving him. The guy looked like he wanted to rip off his head and use it to play basketball.

Once the class bell rang, Riku was out the door. How did he move so fast? Numbly, he gathered his things and met Tidus at the door. His last class was Japanese. His dad was fluent in the language and taught some to Sora. He just had to write in kanji for a while and then the last class of the day was over.

He made his way to the front office to drop off the slip. When he opened the door he heard an unfamiliar, yet very attractive low arguing with the receptionist. It was Riku.

"There must be something. _Anything_ else."

The receptionist sighed and checked the computer again. "I'm sorry but all of the other classes are full. You have stay in Biology."

He was trying to get out of biology? Sora couldn't help but wonder if it was about him.

Riku suddenly stiffened and glance over his shoulder quickly, noticing Sora. "I'll just have to endure it…" he mumbled as he past Sora to leave the office.

It was about him. Sora was sure of it now. He stepped up to and gave the receptionist the slip signed by all of the teachers.

"How was your first day dear?" she asked.

Sora just nodded, not wanting to say anything more.

/…/

The first thing Sora did as soon as he got home was called his mom to tell her about Riku.

"He just looked like he wanted to rip my head off and serve it to guard dogs or something!" He told his mom as he paced in his room. "And he tried to get out of biology and take any other class. I know it's because of me and I didn't do anything."

"Didn't you drool over him?" Tifa asked.

Sora sighed, "No. I was looking at him with my mouth open. It was opened for too long and I started to drool. I have a short attention span."

Tifa laughed on the other side. "That's true. Now sweetie, why don't you just ask him what it is that's bothering him? There could be a misunderstanding. And if you need to, give him a little punch in the face."

Sora laughed this time. "Thanks mom. I think I'll take the non- violent way out."

"How about friends?" Tifa asked to get her son's mind off of the other subject. "Did you meet anyone?"

"Yeah! I met a lot of great people." Sora went to tell his mom about the people he met at class and at lunch. He knew what she was trying to do and he appreciated it. He also knew that tomorrow at school, he was going to confront Riku.

/…/

And that was chapter two of Nightfall! So am I doing okay? I would like to know if I have readers that enjoy this. I love hearing, well in this case, reading other peoples thoughts and I just love feedback. Even a little 'this is good' is enough. I would just like positive feedback. Hopefully, I will see you all and more in chapter 3~~


	3. Mitosis

Woot!!! Chapter 3!!

Now Black Cat had some questions, which I shall answer. Thank you for the review by the way. I really appreciate it.

I'm going to be mixing the book and the movie together, but it pretty much follow the same story line.

Why I picked Axel, Roxas, Yuffie, Leon and Riku as the vampires. It is not because they are popular, I just did what I thought would fit. Yuffie is just perfect for Alice and Leon is always quiet and scowling so I thought he would be great for Jasper. He puts up a cold exterior to keep people away so he won't snap and bite they're heads off. I just love Axel and Roxas, I find them to be funny and sweet when together. And since Sora is the human, Riku is the protective vampire boyfriend.

Yes, Kairi is Riku's rival.

I hope understood everything. If you still have questions let me know.

I don't own Twilight or KH, so don't sue.

_Nightfall_

_Chapter Three_

_Mitosis_

Sora woke up the next day without any problems. There was a piece of apple pie waiting for him in the refrigerator. He and Zack went out to eat last night to celebrate Sora's first successful day in Gongaga. They went to a small diner that had great food and pie. Zack decided to spoil his son and bought him another piece for the morning.

Sora zipped down and enjoyed his sugary breakfast, before he showered and left for school. He wanted to get there early so he could confront Riku. He has no idea what he drove or if he even drove. So he plugged his headphones in, turned on his ipod and waited. And he waited, and waited. Other students had already pulled in and were just hanging around their cars like he was. Checking his watch, Sora saw that the bell was going to ring soon. As soon as he looked up he saw an expensive blue sports car pull into the parking lot followed by an expensive looking jeep. Well they were the Strife family.

Roxas drove in the blue car alone and Sora wondered if Riku was in the jeep. But he wasn't. Axel practically leaped out of the car and ran to Roxas to hug him. Yuffie came out of the driver's side followed by Leon coming out from the passenger's side. Riku wasn't there. The bell rang, telling the students outside to get inside and go to class. Looks like Sora would have to wait until the next day to confront Riku.

The next day came around and Riku still wasn't there, but his siblings were. Sora noticed that Roxas always drove alone, probably to get away from Axel and his continuous hugging and cuddling. The day after that was the same, and for the rest of the week, there was no sign of Riku. Did he leave just to get away from Sora? All he did was stare! He drooled a little too but it couldn't have been that big of a deal.

After not seeing Riku for the entire week, Sora came with the conclusion that he must have transferred to another school or something. So he was surprised to see the boy sitting at the table in Biology on Monday. He didn't go to the cafeteria since everyone else wanted to eat out and didn't get to see if he was there. Unsure on how to react, Sora walked over to his table and sat, trying his best not to look at Riku. He didn't want to catch another one of his glares.

"Hello." Now this surprised him. It was the same voice he heard last week at front office, only it was softer and more welcoming. Sora looked at Riku to be sure it was him and again he was surprised. He was smiling at him! This was a big difference compared to last week's death stare. His eyes were different too. They were more green and welcoming. "I'm Riku Strife. I'm sorry I didn't get to introduce myself last week. You must be Sora Fair."

For the third time, Sora was surprised. "How do know my name?"

Riku let out a little laugh that was music to Sora's ears. "Everyone knows your name, Sora. This town has been waiting for you."

Confusion was written all over Sora's face. Why does the town care so much about his business? And more importantly, why was Riku being so nice? "Why are you being so nice?" he asked voicing his question. "Last week, you looked like you want to tear me to shreds and feed what's left of me to a bunch of homeless starving people."

Riku laughed again. "I don't think you would be very appetizing no matter how hungry they were."

Sora pouted and played along with Riku. "I think they would find me very tasty."

"You really shouldn't say things like that."

Sora noticed the change in his tone. It went from playful to serious. "Weak stomach?" he guessed.

"Something like that," Riku answered with a shrug.

The teacher started the class, telling the students about the lab they would be performing. In this lab, they have to work with a partner to analyze each slide of an onion root in different phases of mitosis and identify the phase. The teacher passed out the slides to each table and told them to get to work.

"Beauty before age," Riku said, moving the microscope over to Sora.

Blushing, Sora picked a slide and looked at it through the microscope. "Prophase," he said writing down the answer.

"Mind if I look?" Riku asked. Sora nodded and pale boy pulled the microscope over to himself and took a quick look. "Prophase"

"Just as I said." Sora removed the slide and replaced with another.

Riku looked at it for second. "Anaphase," he said, writing down the answer.

"Can I look?" Sora asked and Riku pushed the microscope to him. He looked through. "Anaphase."

"Just as I said," Riku copied Sora's tone.

Sora stuck out his tongue before removing the slide and replacing with another.

Riku took a swift look. "Metaphase." He wrote his answer down and push the microscope to Sora.

The brunette looked through and saw that Riku was wrong. "It's Interphase." He saw Riku scratch out his other answer and replace it with the right one. "There's no way you would have gotten that wrong. They look nothing alike."

"Oh really?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow looking directly at Sora.

"I think you knew the answer," Sora said looking directly back at Riku.

"Or maybe you're just the smartest one out the two of us."

Sora understood. Riku was trying to make him special by making him feel smart. His friends back at the island did the same thing. "Thanks."

They identified two more slides and Riku played dumb again for the last one. They had plenty of time to spare before everyone else would be done.

"It's snowing," Riku stated, looking outside.

Sora looked out the window too. It was snowing. He wasn't use to this kind of cold yet. He preferred the warmth of the sun. "Cool."

"You don't like the snow." Riku wasn't asking.

Sora shrugged. "I'm just not accustomed to this kind of weather yet. But I rather see the sun." He let out sigh. "Haven't seen it all week."

"If you don't like the cold, then why did you move to Gongaga?" Riku asked. "It must be the exact opposite from where you were living before."

Sora started to play with his pencil. "It's a little complicated."

"I may not have gotten all of the slides, but I think I'm smart enough to keep up."

Sora looked over at his partner and he somehow felt that he could trust him. "My mom got remarried last year."

"You don't like the guy?" Riku asked, trying to get more out of Sora.

The boy shrugged. "He's alright. He may throw his money around too much, but he's an okay guy." Riku continued to look at him with interest, waiting for him to go on with the story. "His Dad died," Sora continued, "and he has to take over his father's company so, he'll be traveling a lot for the business. My mom wanted to go with him."

"So she sent you here," Riku assumed.

Sora shook his head, "He was always away on business and my mom missed him. Now that his Dad is dead, he had to move. I just decided to spend this time with my Dad while my mom gets to be with Rufus."

"It doesn't seem like you're happy," Riku observed.

The blue eyed boy shrugged again. "Not everything works out the way you want it to. Besides, I haven't seen my Dad in a while."

"So you're more of a people pleaser."

"Do you always interrogate people like this?" Sora was close to become annoyed. He didn't remember anyone ever questioning him like this.

Riku looked slightly taken aback. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to figure you out. You're very difficult for me to read."

Sora blinked and looked over at Riku again and saw green eyes looking back at him. He never heard that before. His mom could read him like he was an open book. "Did you get contacts?" he asked suddenly.

"No." Riku wasn't expecting that question and it showed on his face.

Sora continued to look in his eyes. "Last time they were so dark, almost black. Now they're green…"

Riku looked away and cleared his throat a little. "It's just the lighting… and the fluorescence…Umm…"

The teacher started to over the slides of the onion root, interrupting Riku's explanation. Sora made a mental note to ask about his eyes again.

/…/

Finally, another day of school was over. Sora hurried out of the building to his car. His Dad had texted him during his last class, saying he had a surprise for him at home. He jumped in his car and threw his backpack on the passenger seat. He looked around to make sure it was clear and noticed someone looking his way. It was Riku and he was standing next to a black Porsche a few cars down from him. It must be his. Sora pulled out slowly and drove by to leave. As he passed, he was sure he saw Riku winking at him.

He made it home in record time and rushed inside. "I'm home!"

"I'm right here," Zack said from the living room.

Sora dropped his school bag at the steps and went into the living room. Zack was sprawled out on the couch. "Hey Dad, what are you doing home from the dojo?"

"Well," Zack up and tossed Sora something. "I'm going to need some help in the future."

Sora unfolded his surprise and saw that it was a hoodie. On the upper left hand side was the symbol of the dojo that his Dad now ran alone with some helpers here and there. On the back of the black material, there was a message printed out in outlined letters.

_Proud Black belt of_

_Lockhart Defenders_

"Free advertisement?" Sora asked, folding the hoodie back up. "I'll wear this to school tomorrow."

"Not only that," Zack said, getting on feet. "I want you to be my assistant for the classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays."

"What classes are those?"

Zack flashed him a smile. "Kendo."

Sora's mouth dropped. He loved kendo! "Are you serious Dad? I never really completed my training…"

"Well come on then! Everything we need for practice is in the car."

"Yes!" Sora put the hoodie down and ran outside. Then he came back in and ran up the stairs. "Let me get changed and then we can go! You're the best Dad!"

/…/

Alright, I got chapter 3 up pretty quick! I hope people are enjoying this, but I'm not because I'm not getting much feedback. I got one review so far, that's progress! Yay!

I hope I get to hear from more readers to though. I would like to know my readers thoughts on this. So, I shall see you all in chapter 4.


	4. How?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...

_Nightfall_

_Chapter Four_

_How?_

The next few weeks were hard. Sora was still working with his Dad to complete his kendo training and was going to school every morning sore. He was wearing the hoodie his Dad gave him. Many of his fellow students wondered if he was really a black belt and asked about his father dojo. Sora gave them the number they needed to call if they ever wanted to take up martial arts. He also hinted that he could be their teacher and he was sure that peaked their interest.

Sora stepped out of warm car and into the cold air outside. Luckily, he wore some layers under his hoodie, which wasn't exactly thick. Over the last few weeks, his Dad's dojo got some new members, mainly, Sora's classmates. If he could get a few more people to join his Dad's dojo, he could get a nice, thick, water proof jacket.

He took his school bag out of the back of his car and set it on the trunk. Sora glanced over at the other side of the parking lot. Riku was leaning against his own car, watching him. He was one of the people that didn't believe Sora was black belt. Sighing, he plugged in his head phones and turned on his favorite song at full blast. He checked to make sure he had all of his books and class materials. Biology, check. Trig homework, check. Japanese, check. English essay, check.

Sora didn't remember this part of the song and he listened to it over a hundred times. He was certain there wasn't any screeching in it. He lowered the volume just to be sure. It definitely wasn't the song. Sora turned around just in time to see Hayner's van turn a corner. He recognized it from the time when he and his other friends went out to eat.

Hayner wasn't in control of the van. It skidded on the ice and Sora could tell it was coming right at him. Everything was slow to him. The van was so close, he could tell where it would hit him. One would figure that he would move, but he was frozen. He couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe. Just as everything went slow, it went fast again. Sora expected to have his whole body crushed.

But when heard the crash, he felt no pain. His mind slowly registered the pale hand on the dent of the car and the cold, protective arm wrapped around him. Sora looked at the person holding him. Riku was looking right back at him. But he was on the other side of the parking lot. How did he get here? How did he stop the van? With his hand? Was that even possible? Before Sora could ask his questions, Riku left by jumping over Sora's car.

"Sora!" It was Hayner who called his name followed by many other students who started to gather at the site. He had rolled his window down and Sora could see blood running down his face. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop!"

Sora could barely hear Hayner over the commotion. Many people were asking him if he was alright and Pence had told him he was calling an ambulance. But Sora wasn't paying any attention to them, he was looking for Riku. He wasn't standing with his family. Where did he go?

/…/

Zack threw the door open and rushed to his son's side. "Are you alright Sora?"

Sora, who was sitting on a hospital bed, nodded. "I'm fine. Hayner's in much worse shape than me."

Zack let out a sigh of relief and patted his son's back. "If you were allowed to carry swords to school, you would have cut that van in half."

Sora smiled, "Thanks Dad."

The door opened again and a man wearing a lab coat entered. He was pale, just like Riku and his siblings. His blond hair was spiked in all directions much like Sora's and his blue eyes glowed brightly he scanned the contents of the clip board he was holding.

"I heard your karate kid was in," the doctor said in light friendly voice.

Zack nodded at him in acknowledgement. "Dr. Strife."

It's exactly what Sora figured. He was Riku's adoptive Dad.

"Hello Sora," he greeted him with a warm smile. "I'm Doctor Cloud Strife and I can't help but love your hair."

Sora smiled, "Thanks."

"Well, it's mandatory that we ask this," Cloud said, giving him an apologetic smile. "How do you feel?"

"Good."

"Wonderful." Cloud reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. He held up one finger as he turned it on. "Look here," he instructed, shining the light into Sora's eyes, observing their reaction. "You may experience some post-traumatic stress of disorientation..." Sora and Zack both gave an identical blank look. Cloud laughed and switched the flashlight off. "But you're vitals look good. I think you'll be fine."

Sora understood that and nodded. "It would have been pretty bad if Riku wasn't there," he said, watching Cloud for some kind of reaction.

"Isn't that your kid?" Zack asked Cloud, who nodded.

Sora went on with the story. "He got to me so fast and he was all the way on the other side of the parking lot."

Cloud gave Sora a friendly smile. Not the reaction he was expecting. "Sounds like you were very lucky." He then excused himself and left the room.

"We should get going too," Zack told Sora. The brunette agreed and followed his Dad out the room. "I have to complete some paperwork… and you should call your Mom."

Sora didn't miss the change in his Dad's tone. "What did she say?" He could guess what she told him. His Mom was against Sora moving because she didn't trust his Dad. Basically, she thinks Zack is an unfit father and couldn't look after Sora. "I'll talk to her." Sora loved his Mom, but she has no right to say such things about his Dad. He was perfectly fit to look after him.

"No, no," Zack said with a shake of his head. "Just tell her that you're okay and leave it at that. I gotta go sign some paper work. Promise me you won't say anything."

"Uh-huh," Sora said as he took out his cell phone from his pocket. Zack knew he wouldn't listen anyway and went off to sign some papers. Sora opened his phone. No reception. He walked closer to the windows to get one and that's when he heard _his_ voice.

"I wasn't going to let him die."

"This isn't just about you," said an unfamiliar voice. "It's about all of us…"

Sora approached the corner and peeked down the hallway. There stood Riku, Roxas and Cloud. Roxas was still scolding Riku with a furious tone. He only stopped when Cloud looked up and saw Sora in the corner. Riku and Roxas followed his gaze.

"Umm…" Sora felt like deer caught in headlights. "Can I talk to you for a second?" His question was obviously directed to Riku. Cloud practically dragged Roxas away with him as Riku made his way over to Sora.

"What is it?" Riku hissed.

"How did you get to me so fast?" Sora asked, ignoring Riku's tone. "You were on the other side of the parking lot..."

"I was standing right next to you."

Was Riku really trying to use that old trick on him? "No you weren't. You were next to your car, on the other side of the lot."

Riku shook his head with a laugh. "No, I wasn't. You must have hit your head, Sora."

"My head is fine," Sora said in a flat tone. He didn't appreciate Riku insulting his intelligence. He may not have been the brightest crayon in the box, but he knew where Riku was. "You were no where near me. I know what I saw."

"And what was that?" Riku was still playing dumb or playing that Sora was dumb.

Sora was ready to list everything. "You stopped the van with your hand. You put a dent in it. And you were on the opposite side of the lot. You must have moved at supersonic speed or something."

Riku must have realized he couldn't fool him and stopped smiling. "No one will believe you."

Now Sora understood. He still didn't like being treated like he was slow. "I wasn't going to tell anyone. I just needed to know how you did all of that."

"Can't you just thank me and forget it?" Riku was back to hissing at him.

"Thank you." Sora probably should have done that first instead of throwing questions at him. "But I'm not going to forget it."

"Well, I hope you enjoy your disappointment," Riku said before he walked off.

Sora was going to follow him when his cell phone vibrated in his hand. It was his Mom. That's right; he had to talk to her.

/…/

That night Sora was tossing and turning in his sleep. He wasn't usually a restless sleeper, but then again, he never had dreams like this. He woke up with a start and sat up. He could see the object of his dreams in his room. He quickly turned the lamp on to be sure, but he was gone. Sora could have sworn he saw Riku standing in his room.

He checked the time and saw that it was three in the morning. Joy— just three more hours to go before he had to get ready for school. Thankfully, Sora fell back asleep for those three hours. He woke up to his annoying alarm clock and his phone. After he turned off his alarm he opened his phone to see the words 'field trip' shine at him. He had forgotten about the bio field trip to a greenhouse.

Maybe Sora could corner Riku and ask more questions there? Hopefully the pale boy of his dreams would show up at school today.

/.../

End of chapter four. I was really excited about this chapter mostly because of the car scene. I don't like it too much though... I was happy when I got to it, but it was difficult to write. I think I didn't do a good job... but I did my best.

So, does anyone hate Tifa? Cause my beta does! She's so mean to Zack. Poor guy. -hugs Zack-

Thank you to thewriterwannabe and HollowKiki for their reviews. I really appreciate it and I hope to hear from you two again!


	5. Rare

Disclaimer: Oh come on... I don't own anything. You should know that by now.

_Nightfall_

_Chapter Five_

_Rare_

Sora eagerly pulled into a parking spot. He was bit too eager since he had to back up and straighten his car. He was bit late arriving to school, but at least he saw Riku's car on his way in. He jumped out of his car and made his way over to the yellow bus and his classmates. One of his classmates approached him and cut him off. It was Tidus and he looked a little nervous.

"Hey," Tidus greeted. Sora wasn't sure if he was talking to him or the floor.

"Hey. Do you want something?"

Tidus was finally looked at him. He was still shifting a little nervously. "Um… There's a dance coming up and…" Sora saw Riku with Yuffie and Leon walking over to bus. Riku caught his gaze and everything else Tidus said was a blur. "I was wondering if you're still available and not gong with anyone else, would you go… with me?"

It took Sora a second to realize that Tidus stopped talking. "Um… what? Sorry, short attention span." His Dad's attention span is becoming very useful to him.

"Would you go to the dance with me?"

Sora froze. Go to a dance? Never in his life had he been asked to go anywhere. And as much as he liked Tidus, he didn't want to go to a dance. With him anyway. "Um… Wow, a dance… That's not really for me."

Sora felt guilty as soon as Tidus's face fell. "Is it because I'm a guy?"

"No! No, it's not like that." Sora never really gave any thought to sexual preferences. Love is love. It didn't matter between what gender as long as the feeling is pure. "I'm just not a dancer and besides, I'm going to see my Mom on that day."

Tidus nodded. "Okay then. We still have prom. See you on the bus."

"Yeah…" Again, Sora barley heard Tidus because his eyes caught Riku's again. He noticed they were a bit darker today. He might be grumpy, but Sora pushed him enough, he could get some answers out of him.

/…/

Sora completely ignored his teacher's lecture on plants and recycling and whatever else he was talking about. He saw that Tidus wasn't so down as he was before. Why did he look so sad in the first place? It wasn't like Sora insulted him or anything.

"Are you really going to see your Mom?" asked a very familiar voice, breaking into Sora's thoughts.

The brunette was considering on ignoring him, but he had some questions. Riku just allowed him to add a new one to the list. "How did you know about that?" He knew Tidus didn't tell anyone. He was gloomy on the whole bus ride and Riku was on a different bus.

"You didn't answer my question," Riku retorted.

Sora rolled his eyes. Another way to avoid his questions. "And you never answered any of mine. Can you at least say 'hi' before you ask me anything?"

Riku decided to humor him. "Hi."

Sora nodded in approval before he asked his question of top priority. He lowered his voice so none of his classmates could hear him. "How did you stop the van?"

The pale boy was ready to answer this now. He did his research. "I had an adrenaline rush, it's very common. If you don't believe me, you can Google it."

Riku looked so proud of himself. Too bad Sora had to rain on his parade. "I have experienced adrenaline rushes more times than I can count." He cast a glance in Riku's direction. He no longer looked proud. "And I highly doubt it would be able to make you stop a crashing van and put a dent in the door. You'll have to try aga-" He was cut off by a stupid plant he nearly tripped over. Riku caught him by the arm before he plummeted to the ground.

"Can you watch where you walk?" Riku snapped. He automatically felt guilty when a small pout appeared on Sora's face. "Listen, I know I'm being rude. It's just better this way."

"Why-" Sora was interrupted again, but by Olette, who came up and asked to talk to him. Riku walked away laughing and shaking his head. He also muttered something, but it was too soft for the brunette to hear. For some reason, she looked nervous, even more so after Riku's laugh. "What is it?"

She took a breath before speaking. "Will you go to the spring dance with me?"

Again? What's with all of this sudden attention? "I'm going to see my Mom that weekend. I'm sorry Olette." The bright color wearing girl nodded and walked away to join her friends, one being Tidus.

The field trip came to a slow and boring end as Sora made his way back to one of the buses. He heard faint footsteps behind him getting louder with each passing second and turned around. It was Riku. He slowed down and waited for him to catch up.

Riku got straight to the point. "We shouldn't be friends."

That's a great conversation starter. Wait, they were friends? First Riku glares holes into his head and then he winds up stopping a van from crushing him. Did that make them friends? It just might. "I don't see why not. You can be grumpy and rude at times, but you're a good guy."

"You don't know anything about me, Sora." His tone was very serious.

"Because you never answer any of my questions," Sora said. He lowered his voice. "Like how you stopped the van."

Riku gave him a cold and somewhat threatening look that said 'drop it'. It's a shame Sora wasn't planning too.

"Hey." The small, female voice broke Riku's stare. It was Yuffie with Leon behind her. "Are you riding with us?" she asked Sora.

Riku answered for him. "Our bus is full." He banged on the door and the driver opened it.

"Is it really full?" Sora asked Yuffie.

She had a sneaky smile on her face. "Nope. The seat next to Riku is usually open."

"Thanks." Sora smiled at her before he got on the bus with Yuffie not far behind Leon. He plopped down next to Riku, who didn't bother to look at him. He made himself very comfortable in the seat, before he started to fire questions at him. "How did you stop the van?" The silver haired boy remained silent and continued to look out the window. "Okay then, how did you get to me so fast?" Riku still ignored Sora. "You're eyes change color, why is that?"

Riku finally spoke, but he was still looking out the window. "You're persistent. It's getting annoying."

"All you have to do is answer my questions and then I'll go away."

"I already did," Riku replied swiftly.

"You lied," Sora stated plainly. "That's not what happened." He looked over at the pale boy next to him. He was in a similar position to when they first met. His hand was over his mouth and his nose was cringed and it looked like he wasn't breathing. Sora resisted the urge to smell himself again. "Are you going to tell me?"

Riku said nothing and Sora took the silence as a 'no'. The bus started to move and the two boys spent the ride in silence.

/…/

Much to Sora's dismay, they arrived on time for the last class of the day. He jumped off the bus and headed for Japanese. It was one of his favorite classes, but to be frank, he didn't want to do any school work today.

Riku rushed off the bus and waited for Yuffie, who was taking her time to exit the bus. "Well, hello there Riku."

"Why did you do that!?" he growled. "Do you know how close I was to killing everyone on the bus!?"

"You weren't going to," Yuffie assured him. "You're getting use to him. Just be nicer."

"I shouldn't even be around him."

Yuffie sighed. She knew the thoughts that were going through his head. He was thinking about the safety of their family. "Riku, be happy for once." With that she took Leon's hand and walked back to school with him, leaving Riku there with his own thoughts.

/…/

Sora sat at the lunch table next to Hayner and Rinoa the next day. The topic today was on a security guard getting killed by an animal attack at a mill nearby. Sora heard about that on the news.

"So, Sora…" Hayner started. "You ready for a warm weekend?"

Sora raised an eyebrow at him. "Is there going to be sunlight?"

Rinoa jumped in. "Yeah, and we're planning on going to Shipwreck Cove this weekend. You wanna join us?"

Let's see… one point for nice weather, another point for sunlight and five points for the beach. "I'm in."

Rinoa smiled and turned to give the rest of the table the news. They seemed to be pretty happy that he was going, even Pence.

This morning as he left his car, Pence came up and asked the question Sora had been asked lately. Pence asked him to the spring dance. Sora declined using the same excuse he gave Tidus and Olette. Now at lunch, he was sitting with the two that asked him out the day before. Sora hoped he wasn't starting a hate group. He looked over at the Strife family's usual table and saw that Riku wasn't there. Was he avoiding him again? All he did was ask questions and now he was going to give Sora the silent treatment? He must be bipolar or something.

"Riku is staring at you," Rinoa whispered. She looked behind across the cafeteria. Sora followed her gaze. At a far table, Riku sat alone. She was right, he was staring him down.

Selphie took notice of this too. "He's not sitting with his family?" she asked.

Sora was captivated by Riku's gaze and continued to stare. With a single finger, Riku invited Sora to sit with him.

Rinoa gasped. "He means you?"

"He might need help with biology or something. It's not his best subject." Sora stood and went over to Riku's table with his lunch tray in hand. He felt six pairs of eyes staring at his back as he left. "I thought you disappeared for a week again," he said to the silver haired boy. He set his tray down and made himself comfortable in the chair. "You looked like you didn't want to be near me yesterday and now you want to sit with me. You gotta warn me when you go bi-polar like that."

Riku gave him a smile. "Yuffie spoke to me yesterday and I'm taking her advice. I'm going to do what I want and cross whatever bridge may come up."

"Does that make us friends?" Sora did his best not to sound too hopeful. He figured he failed because Riku laughed at him.

"We can give it a shot. But keep in mind, I'm not a good friend for you," he warned.

"I think I can decide what's good for me," Sora said, taking a bite out of his carrot.

"And yet, you stay."

What is with this? Riku says he wants to be friends and at the same time he trying to get Sora to avoid him. Why would he do this? Does it have something to do with the van and how he stopped it? What could make a normal person do those things? Wait. Maybe Riku wasn't normal…

"What are you thinking?"

That question brought the brunette out of his thought process and caused him to look into sea-green eyes. He didn't know why, but his eyes were very hypnotizing. "Trying to figure out what you are."

Riku sighed, "I wished you wouldn't."

So he wasn't normal. Detective Sora Fair is on the case! The objective: To find out what Riku was as soon as possible. His mind was already filling up with ideas.

Riku laughed. The boy in front of him was completely unaware to the fact that his face changed with each thought. "Have any theories?"

Sora blinked. "Hm? Theories?"

"Your expression keeps changing. I just figured that you came up with some things."

Sora started to blush a bit. He never knew he did that… There's was always time to change it. His eyes found Riku's untouched tray. "Aren't you going to eat?"

He chuckled. "I'm not hungry."

Was there something funny about his question?

"Now answer one of my questions."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Because I answered yours."

What question was that again? Oh yeah. "That doesn't count."

"It does."

Sora waved it off. "Whatever. Fine."

Riku held up one finger. "Tell me one theory."

The younger boy shook his head. "Not that."

"Yes, that."

"But you'll laugh." Sora whined.

Riku just stared at him, knowing that he was going to cave and give an answer anyway.

And he was right. "Keyblade Master?"

Riku laughed. "Really now?"

"They can use magic," Sora said trying to defend his poor little theory. "I just thought you used reflect or something." He pouted when Riku continued to laugh. "I knew you would laugh."

"I'm sorry," he apologized and tried to regain control. "Keyblade Master, huh? Super hero things. That doesn't really describe me well." He decided to explain further when he saw that confused look on Sora's face. "I'm not the hero. I'm more of the bad guy."

"You're not bad though," Sora said. "You could have been evil before, but you're good now. You're an anti-hero. Just like one of the Keyblade Masters." The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over and it was time to go to the next class. Sora stood and gathered his things. "We should go, don't want to be late."

Riku remained seated. "I'm not going. It's healthy to ditch sometimes."

Sora nodded. "I wish I had the guts to do that."

"Guess I'll see you later," the pale boy said with a smile.

That smile must be hypnotizing too. "Yeah…" Sora replied in a daze. He was about to leave when something clicked in his mind. He turned to face Riku. "You should come to the beach. Some friends and I are going."

"Which beach?" Riku asked.

"Shipwreck Cove."

Riku's expression changed upon hearing the name of the beach. "I don't think I can do that. Sorry."

Sora didn't miss his expression changing. It happens a lot with his Dad, so Sora tended to pay attention to those things. "Something wrong with that beach?" he asked.

"Too many people," Riku replied with a shrug. "I really don't like crowds."

Sora nodded and looked at the time. He waved bye to his lunch date and took his time going to biology. Riku wasn't going to be there so what was the rush? He sat down at his empty table and waited for class to begin. What would make Riku want to skip this class? Sora got his answer when the teacher came in and told them they were going to find out what blood type they were.

Riku must have been one of those people that passed out at the sight of blood. How sad, he could stop a crashing van but he couldn't stand the sight of blood? Odd combination.

/…/

Sora rushed out of the school, his eye sweeping the parking lot. He saw Riku standing near his car and went over to him. "Hey Riku! Guess what we did in class today?"

"Let me think real hard…" Riku rubbed his chin thought to emphasize the thinking. "Find out your blood type?"

Sora nodded excitedly. "Yup! And I'm-"

"AB-," Riku finished.

The shorter boy stopped his nodding and gave a confused and slightly suspicious look. "I'm not excitedly sure about the negative part, but I'm AB. How did you know?"

"It's the rarest one out of all of the blood types," Riku answered looking directly into Sora's eyes. "And you're a very rare person, Sora."

Why did he have to look at him like that with that intense gaze? Sora was at a loss for words. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing.

"You might want to head home."

Riku's voice brought Sora out of his trance.

"And watch out for vans. I don't think I'm up for that twice."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha. You're _hilarious_." No sarcasm intended. Lifting his school bag on his shoulder, Sora made his way over to his car. And he kept an eye out for any crashing vehicle.

/…/

Destinyshipping!!! A new term I'm trying to spread. It mean Sora/Riku or Riku/Sora. The credit does not go to me though, it belong to my rommie and beta.

Well, there you go, chapter 5! A bit longer than I wanted it to be, but oh well. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope I will see you in the next chapter!


	6. Legends

_Nightfall_

_Chapter Six_

_Legends_

"You can't surf to save your life! You suck!"

Tidus shot Sora a half hearted glare. "It's not like I got to do it everyday like _somebody_ I know."

"Every weekend," Sora corrected with a laugh.

It was sunny today! Sora couldn't believe it when he looked out the window. His Dad warned him that it wouldn't last long though, but he was still going to enjoy it while he still can. On the way to Shipwreck Cove, Tidus kept on bragging about how well he can surf. Sora saw him surf and was almost insulted. He called that surfing?

After borrowing Pence's surf board, he should them how it's really done and everyone was impressed. They should have expected it, he was an island boy. Then he tried to help Tidus out a bit, but it didn't work out too well.

Noon soon came around and that's when the sun decided to disappear. With a heavy heart, Sora went Hayner's van for lunch. The girls had all made sandwiches and the guys brought the soda and water. Tidus started a conversation about blitz ball, saying the he was trying for captain of the schools team.

"There's a team at school!?" Sora asked in a loud.

"You play?" The question came from Hayner.

Sora nodded. "That was one of the two things I loved to do at the islands, biltz ball and martial arts." He took a long gulp of his water.

"I'm sure Riku's making a place on your 'to do' list," Selphie muttered. This caused Sora to choke on his water and his face turned beet red. Olette smack her sister on her leg. "Oh come on. He asked Riku to come, but he said no."

"Really?" Rinoa sounded a bit too delighted. "So Riku denied you too?"

Sora shrugged, slowly recovering from the blush. "He said he didn't like crowds."

Selphie turned her attention to the female brunette with highlights. "Now if I remember correctly, he just said no and then told you to get lost. Same with Leon."

Rinoa gave Selphie a dirty look, but she was ignored.

"Sora?"

That voice was bit familiar, but when he saw a certain red-head, he knew who it was. "Kairi!"

Kairi came up to the group with two people behind her. The girl looked almost exactly like Kairi, but she had blond hair. The guy next the blond was very tall, around six feet and had green eyes. Sora blinked when he made eye contact with the man. Were they _glowing_?

Hayner nudged Sora in the ribs, causing him to break eye contact. "Don't be rude, introduce us."

"Oh, um. Guys, this Kairi and I have no clue who they are. Kairi, these are my friends from school."

Kairi laughed a little and indicated to the people behind her. "This is my cousin Naminè and her older brother Seifer. So, what are you doing here?"

"Talking about Riku Strife." Selphie answered before Sora could say anything. She loves embarrassing him. He's so cute when he blushes. "He turned down Sora's invitation to come here."

Seifer scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Those freaks don't come here."

Freaks? Selphie only mentioned Riku and this guy had to bring in Riku's whole family? Sora couldn't help but to give Seifer a dirty look. "That's not something you really should say," he said in a flat tone.

Seifer smirked at his reaction. "Oh, really? But it's true. There a family of freaks."

"That's enough Seifer," Kairi snapped. She and everyone else could see that Sora was getting upset. And that look he giving Seifer was somewhat scary. Kairi thought quickly. "Hey Sora, you wanna go on a hike? Naminè chickened out on me."

"Yeah sure," Sora stood up and reached for his clothes that brought just in case it started to get a little too cold for him. He wasn't sure what had happened next to cause his knuckles to hurt and two of his friends, Tidus and Hayner, to surround him like they were holding him back.

He vaguely remembers hearing another freak comment from Seifer. He must have snapped and punched him. Seifer was now sporting a small read mark on jaw. Jeez, his knuckles were killing him and that's all he did? Sora knew he was stronger than that.

/…/

"What did he mean by that?" Sora asked Kairi breaking the silence. After the whole punching fiasco, Kairi insisted that they went on a hike anyway. Sora changed out of his wet swimwear and here they are now. "About the Strife's not coming here I mean."

Kairi laughed nervously. "You caught that huh? It's kind of a long story. And I'm not supposed to tell anyone that lives outside." She took a deep breath.

"Don't worry. I'll forget it in week or so," Sora assured.

Kairi laughed. "Well it's more like a legend," she started. "You know there were people living here before we came over from Europe. There was a small ship coming to America, got caught in storm and crashed here. The people that were here before all that were said to be descended from wolves."

"That's kind of cool." Sora said honestly.

"Yeah. Years and generations of breeding later, out comes Reno, me, my cousins and other people. Reno and I direct descendents of the chief of the tribe."

"Another cool point." Sora said. "When does the Strife's come in?"

"It's said that they're a part of an enemy clan. My ancestor, the chief, found them hunting on this land, but they claimed to be different. A treaty was made between them saying that if the Strife's stay off this land, then they won't expose what they really were. By then people were coming to live in the town that is known as Gongaga today."

Sora thought about the conversion he had with his Dad. He asked about Riku and family when they went out to eat. "Didn't they just move here?"

"Or… They just moved back."

That made sense. "What does that make the Strife family? What are they?"

Kairi laughed and blushed a little. Sora really was cute, especially with that curious look. "It's only a story Sora."

"Oh… yeah. I guess so." But, he couldn't ignore that feeling in his gut that told him there was some truth in the legend. Riku and his family were something else, something not human.

"Sora?"

"Hmm?" he turned his head to look at Kairi and ran right into something. He could tell by it's rough surface that it was tree. He couldn't blame Kairi for laughing at him. He should really watch where he going.

/…/

Sora waved as Hayner's van zoomed away. Once it disappeared around the corner, he started for the stairs. He took out his key to open the door, but he never got to use it.

A woman opened the door and gave him a polite smile, nodding to him as a greeting. The only thing that Sora could notice as she went to her car, which was parked behind Sora's, was that she had long wavy brown hair. He continued to stare at her, with his mouth open, until she drove away. He went inside and saw his Dad sipping a cup of green tea trying to act innocent.

"How was the beach?"

Oh no, he wasn't going to get away with this. "Dad, who was _that_?"

"Who?" Sora gave him a look that said, 'you know exactly who I mean, now who was that woman'. "Oh, you mean Cissnei?"

Sora nodded.

Zack put his mug down. "She's a… very talented student of mine… at the dojo."

"Uh-huh," that was a quarter of the truth. It looks like his Dad is moving on, and making moves on this Cissnei. He hopes that she would be good to him. He deserves it. "So training today?"

"Yeah!" Zack was obviously relieved to move the subject to something else.

Like Sora was going to make it that easy. "Is Cissnei going to join us?"

"Huh? What? No!" Zack started to blush very lightly. "She's very busy today and…"

"So you know her schedule?" No wonder his friends liked doing this to him so much. It was fun!

"I- um. Just get your clothes!"

Sora laughed and ran up the stairs. He stopped at that top. "Dad?" he called down. "I approve!!"

"Get your clothes!"

/.../

And Sora learned little more about the Strife. But when he find out about the whole vampire thing? Can anyone guess what Seifer is? Think long and hard... Poor Zack, now Sora has someone to torture! Hope to see ya in the next chapter!! Please review!


	7. I Know What You Are

_Nightfall_

_Chapter Seven_

_I Know What You Are_

Sora woke up early the next day, a Sunday, due to his Dad's loud laughter. Once he became more awake, he was able to tell that someone else was with him, but he couldn't tell who. Must be Cissnei. Sora hadn't gotten the chance to formally introduce himself. Besides, it would be rude of him to just lie in bed during her visit.

After brushing his teeth and changing into his lazy Sunday outfit, consisting of t-shirt and sweat pants, he headed down stairs to greet his Dad's lovely guest. Before he did, he glanced outside. Cloudy day as usual, but the weather wasn't what he was looking for. While he was changing, Sora could feel someone watching him. Seeing no one, he shrugged the feeling off and left his room.

Cissnei wasn't the guest. He could hear another man's voice accompanying with his father's. Great, another person for him not to remember. And he didn't. The man looked like he was around his Father's age and his physique was similar to his Dad's. He had a strong and handsome face with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Morning Sora!" Zack greeted. "Hope we didn't wake you."

"Oh no Father. Not at all." No sarcasm intended.

Zack and the unknown man laughed.

"This is Kunsel, Sora. Since you have my attention span and memory, I'm sure you won't remember him."

"That and he was two when I last saw him." Kunsel added.

"Damn. It's been that long?" Zack muttered to himself.

The phone rang in the living room. Sora left the kitchen to answer, leaving the two men alone to catch up. The number on the caller ID was unfamiliar to him, but it could someone else his Dad knows. He picked it up. "Hello?"

"Is this Sora?"

Sora blinked. The voice sounded familiar. "Who is this?"

"It's Rinoa!"

He blinked again. How in the world did she get his number? "Oh hi. What's up?" he asked, deciding to be polite and start a small conversion. Though, it was a little creepy that she's calling him using a number that he didn't give her.

"Oh nothing," she giggled. "I was just wondering if you would like to go shopping with me and the other girls tomorrow. Like after school?"

"Shopping for what?"

"Our dresses for the dance!"

Sora pulled the phone away from his throbbing ear. "I'm not going to the dance," he said after bringing the phone back to his ear.

"Yeah, okay. Come anyway. We need a guy opinion on the dresses!"

"Hold on for a second," Sora put the phone down and rushed to the kitchen. "I have a problem!" he announced.

Both Zack and Kunsel stared at him. Sora took this as sign to continue. "Rinoa wants me to go shopping with her and her friends so they can buy dresses for the dance and…"

"Go." Zack and Kunsel said it at the same time.

"But…"

"Go."

All right. There's no room for an argument here. He nodded and returned to phone. "Yeah, I'll go," he said into the phone with a frown. He moved the phone away from his ear just as Rinoa squealed and brought it back.

"This is great! You won't regret this Sora!"

"I already am…" he muttered after he heard the dial tone on the end. There wasn't much to look forward to tomorrow. At least he'll get to see Riku at lunch. Maybe he'll rant to him, or even better, convince him to come along. He'll have to pout. Sora slid into an armchair as he came up with a plan to get Riku to join him.

A thought wormed its way into his brain as he thought of Riku. The legend that Kairi told him. There was another side to that story that she didn't reveal, so he would have to find out himself. He headed up stairs and touched the mouse pad on his new laptop to wake it up. He was too lazy to shut it down probably yesterday.

Pulling up his favorite search engine, Sora started to do research on Gongaga's history. He didn't find any information about the story Kairi told him. Wait…

_The Legends of Gongaga_.

Perfect! This is exactly what he needed. Sora did a little more research to find where the book is being sold. There was a store right by the mall that he was going to be dragged to. Rinoa talks about it all the time. He knew they were going there.

/…/

It was sunny again! Sora practically jumped out of bed to get to school as soon as possible. The sooner he got to school, the sooner he could see Riku and convince him to join the shopping trip. He stood by his car, wearing a light jacket. The morning wind made the air a little chilly.

He watched the cars enter the parking lot, one by one. By the time the bell rang, he didn't see Riku's black Porsche come in. In fact, his whole family wasn't in. Great, now all of his planning has gone to waste and he has to deal with a bunch of girls alone.

His mood didn't improve on the way to the mall. Rinoa drove like a maniac and Sora vowed to never ride with her again. When they arrived, he had to resist the urge to kiss the ground and thank the heavens that he was alive.

But he would have to save all that until the whole shopping trip is over. Selphie went straight to the yellow dresses, knowing the color looked great on her. She shouted out a few suggestions over to Olette, saying she should wear orange and not blue. Rinoa was looking at dresses of colors, looking for something different to wear, something that would make jaws drop and heads turn.

Sora was lucky enough to find a chair by the window during the girls fashion show. The window was as tall as the store, allowing everyone outside to see the dresses. The girls constantly asked for his opinion, but he just nodded and said they all looked great. There was one time when Rinoa changed rather quickly and came out in a strapless emerald green dress, turning for Sora.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Looks great." Sora repeated the same words he said for the last five dresses.

"Go to the dance with me."

Sora blinked; his initial reaction to a sudden, unexpected action. "What?"

"Go to the dance with me," she repeated.

"I'm not going, Rinoa." For once, Sora hoped that the girls would come out soon.

"Don't worry about the suit. You can still rent one last minute and I already got your ticket…"

Sora shook his head. "I'm not going."

Rinoa's jaw tightened. She didn't take rejection well. "I bought you a ticket, Sora. You have to come."

This girl was insane. "No I don't. You got that ticket thinking that I would go with you because… it's _you_."

Selphie choose this time to exit the changing room with her sister in tow. They had switched colors. Selphie was wearing an orange dress while Olette wore the yellow one.

"How you do like the change Sora?" the elder of the two asked.

Turning his attention away from Rinoa, Sora looked them over. "I like the change."

_BANG BANG BANG_

There were four older guys on the other side of the window. Each of them gave the girls a toothy grin not even noticing Sora. One of them muttered something, causing the whole group to laugh. With the look they had on their faces, Sora knew it something obscene. He saw that look whenever he went out with his Mother.

Tifa's a very attractive woman with a figure that most women would kill to have. But whenever a man what that certain gleam in his got to close, she gave them her infamous 'get-any-closer-then-I'll-tear-you-apart-and-feed-the-rest-of-you-to-the-dogs' glare. Sora saw it many times in his life.

He knocked on the window and got their attention. "Keep walking," he said with his mother's infamous glare, pointing down the street.

The group got the message and continued to do whatever it was that they were doing.

"Wow, Sora," Olette said.

Sora blinked. In that fraction of a second his face went back to his normal, innocent look. "What?"

"I have never seen you look so mean!"

"Oh that? It's something that all martial artists know how to do." And his Mom was an expert at it.

Selphie walked around Rinoa and put a hand on Sora's shoulder. "You know you can leave, Sora. You don't have to stay."

He didn't? Fantastic! "But, what about those guys? What if they come back?"

Selphie waved it off. "Bah! They won't be coming back. Not after a scare like that! Besides, you're not the only one who knows martial arts." She flexed her biceps to prove her point. Somewhere in that skinny arm was a lot muscle. It bulged out when she flexed and disappeared when she relaxed. "We can meet at Friday's at six thirty, grab a bite to eat and then leave. Sound like a plan?"

Sora came to the conclusion that they will be fine, agreed to meet them at Friday's, and left the store to go find the book store. Women can be very strong and can hold their own if they had proper training. His mind wandered back to his Mom. She could definitely hold own in a fight, and win it!

It took him thirty minutes to find the place. He accidently went the wrong way, got lost, got help, and found the store.

The book store was dimly lit. The man behind the cash reregister was tall, tan, bald, and was oddly wearing sun glasses. He nodded at Sora, acknowledging that he was there. Sora nodded back and began his search. It took him ten minutes to find the book, purchase it and leave. By the time he was done, it was already dark out.

Sora took out his phone and checked the time. He was supposed to meet the girls… twenty minutes ago. Whoops. Time to rush. Sora decided to test his luck and take a short cut. Hopefully, it was in the right direction. His sixth sense tingled just as two guys walk pass the alley way and came back. Sora recognized them. These two guys were at the window. They started walking toward him and Sora knew they wanted trouble.

But he didn't.

Turning around, Sora decided he would find another way to the restaurant. He walked the clear and open way where there were plenty of lights. Even with the lights he felt like he was still in the alleyway, only there was more space.

The other two showed up, coming from another alleyway somewhere ahead of Sora.

"Ah! There is he is!" one of goons ahead of him said.

"Where're going, pretty boy?" That comment from behind him.

Sora stopped walking. He tightened the single strap of his book bag to make sure it stayed close and not go flying off. His Mom got him this type of back pack just in case he needed to 'kick some ass'. Her words, not his.

"There's nowhere to run…" one taunted. They were getting awfully close.

"Stay away," Sora warned in a deadly calm voice.

"Now you listen here, pretty boy." One grabbed his wrist. Sora snapped.

He jerked the guy forward, and his face met Sora's fist. He ducked, already expecting the punch that one of them threw. He took a step and punched the guy in the gut. He didn't have to add much power in it, since the goon practically threw his whole body into his punch, thinking it would hit.

Two down, two to go.

One of them came from behind. Bad move. Sora grabbed at the guys arm, bent over and threw him over his shoulder. The last goon was wondering if he should try to attack Sora. But once his friends started to get back up, he got a little braver.

Sora backed up a bit as they started to advance again.

There was a loud screech of a car speeding around the corner, followed by headlights. Sora turned and saw a familiar black Porsche skid to a stop near him.

The driver's side door opened. "Get in the car, Sora."

He stood there, watching Riku step out and wondering what he was doing here. It was like Riku knew he would be here.

The unharmed goon decided to brave. "That was a very dangerous thing to…"

Riku glared at him with hard, dark green eyes. If looks could kill, he would be dead and in hell for ten thousand years.

"Riku…"

"Get in the car, Sora."

"As long as you get in too." Sora didn't like that death glare on Riku's face. He refused to let him get in trouble if Sora could stop him somehow.

Riku slowly made his way back to the open car door. Sora kept his part of the deal and got in the passenger's side.

Putting the car into drive, Riku stepped on the gas and got dangerously close to the group of goons, making them jump back and fall over themselves. He then put the car in reverse, turned it around, put it back in drive and drove off at a high speed. He didn't bother the slow down when he got to the street. Sora saw that his friend's hands were shaking. No doubt it was from rage.

"I should have ripped off their heads," Riku growled.

Sora shook his head. "You shouldn't. I did enough damage."

It was Riku's turn to shake his head. "Not enough for the vile things they were thinking."

'They were thinking'? "You knew what they were thinking?"

Riku was quiet for a few seconds. "It wasn't hard to guess. Talk about something else, so I won't turn around."

Sora racked his brain for something. He went through his day's events and found something. "I think I'm starting a hate club with Rinoa Heartily as the president." He glanced over and saw a very small smile on Riku's pale lips.

"She finally asked you?"

"Yeah, said she got a ticket and everything. I still turned her down and she didn't look happy either. I'm suppose to meet them at Friday's, but that was half an hour ago."

Before Sora knew it, the Prosche was parked in Friday's parking lot. Riku was out of the car before Sora even unbuckled his seat belt.

"They could still be waiting for you," Riku said as they walked up to the restaurant. Just as they got there, Sora saw they did not wait for him, but he wasn't expecting them to.

Selphie saw them first. "Hey Sora! Now I know why you were delayed." She waved at Riku, who nodded back politely. "Sorry, but we ate already."

"We wanted to wait for you," Olette added, "but we were really hungry."

Rinoa rolled her eyes, not even bothering to acknowledge the two boys.

"It's fine," Sora waved it off. "I'm ready to go if you guys are."

"I think you should eat, Sora," Riku said. Something in his tone made it sound like an order. He turned his attention to Selphie. "I can drive him home." He told her with a charming smile.

Sora about to protest, but his stomach decided to protest him and growled loudly. With a blush, he agreed. "Maybe I should eat something."

Selphie nodded with a smile of her own. "Then I guess we'll see you tomorrow, Sora." She led the girls away, down the street to the parking garage.

"I don't have to eat, right now."

"Yes, you do." Riku put a firm hand on Sora's back and practically pushed him to the door.

The brunette sighed and gave up. He opened the door and walked with Riku close at his heals. The host greeted them with a sickenly sweet smile. "Table for two?"

"Can we get a booth?" Sora asked with a smile. He loves booths!

The host nodded and led them to a booth in the back of the restaurant. It was surprisingly not crowded, but then again, it was Monday.

They sat quietly for a few moments until the server came. Riku refused the menu and Sora had not opened his. He stuck with water as his drink. He twirled the submerged ice cubes with the straw until he couldn't take the silence anymore. "I'm gonna need some answers."

With a sigh, Riku decided to humor him. "Yes, no. 1.77245…"

Sora rolled his eyes and cut him off. "I don't care about the square root of pi."

Riku was surprised. "You knew that?"

"Really short attention span." He stopped playing with his straw and looked Riku right in the eyes. "How did you know where I was?"

"I didn't."

"Did you follow me or something?"

It was clear that Sora wasn't going to let this drop. "I feel very protective of you…" Riku began slowly.

"So you followed me?" Sora asked again, hoping for a straight answer.

The older of the two nodded. "I tried to keep a distance in case you needed my help," he admitted. His expression got dark. "But then I heard what those vile bastards were thinking-"

There he goes again with the thinking thing. "You heard what they were thinking?" Sora saw that Riku expression changed again. Oh, no. He's not getting out of this one. "So you read minds?" Straight forward question. There's no way around this one. Riku didn't say anything and he didn't move. "You can," Sora concluded. "You read minds…"

This guy was a lot shaper than Riku expected. There's no point in denying it or trying to lie. "I don't really read minds. What I see is desires and what's in their hearts. I see what they want, what they don't want, who they like, who they hate, what they want to do, things like that. I just derive the thoughts from that. I can see everyone's desires in this area, but yours." His eye trailed across the room. Sora followed his gaze. "Sex," he moved to the next person, "money," and the next, "sex," and another, "money," and the last, "cat?"

Sora raised an eyebrow when the man sighed with a huge grin on his face. "Good things about the cat, right?" He took a long slurp of his water.

"Yeah, he loves Mittens," he turned his attention to Sora. "Add you? Nothing."

"So, am I a heartless or something?" Sora asked. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Riku laughed, almost not believing his ears. "I tell you I can see into people's hearts and you think there's something wrong with you?"

"Well, yeah. You can see into everyone's, but mine. Something is missing. Maybe a major vein…"

Riku let out another small, laugh. In the span of two seconds, his smile fell. This wasn't right. He shouldn't be here.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked. He had to suppress a shudder when Riku looked at him. There something about his gaze…

"I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore," he confessed.

"Then don't." Sora wondered why Riku would try to avoid him. He did say before that he would be a bad friend for him, but Sora didn't believe it. He still doesn't.

/…/

Sora was back in the passenger seat of Riku's car. Riku drove at a high speed to his destination with his eyes glued to the road. It was quiet, very quiet. The brunette didn't like quiet.

"Is it okay if we turn on the radio?" he asked, already reaching for it.

Riku reached for it too, not taking his eyes off the road.

Their hands touched.

Sora yanked his back, like he had just been shocked. But they didn't shock each other, Riku's hand just felt really cold. Scratch that.

His hand was _freezing_.

"Or the heat," Sora offered. "Your hand's freezing." He looked at his own hand and then at Riku's. It was so pale compared to his own.

Flashing red and blue lights caught his attention. They were passing the police station and they were busy. Sora's sixth sense kicked in again when he spotted his father's car in the parking lot. "Can we pull in? My Dad's here."

Riku slowed the car, preparing for a turn. He noticed Cloud's car was also in the lot. "My Father's here too." He parked the car near the entrance.

Cloud exited police station through the front door just as Sora and Riku stepped out of the Porsche.

"Cloud," Riku called to get his attention, "what's going on?"

The blond noticed the 'get-to-the-point' tone in Riku's voice. "A man name Kunsel Soldato was found in the woods the morning. I just got through examining the body."

"Body?" Sora repeated. That could only mean… "He's dead? How?"

"Animal attack."

"Was it the same one that caused the other attacks? And killed those people? It's getting closer to town." Anyone can get killed by this animal. Kunsel, a man that has studied martial arts with his Father, Zack, was just killed by it. Then that means his Dad can get killed too. All his life, Sora saw Zack as this invincible person that couldn't get hurt by anything. Now Kunsel dead, killed by a crazed animal. Kunsel, his Dad's friend. His Dad must be hurting. "I gotta see my Dad…"

"He's inside," Cloud told him.

Riku waited until was inside to ask his question. "He was drained of blood, wasn't he?"

Cloud didn't answer and walked over to his car. He knew Riku could see that he wanted to continue this conversation back at home.

/…/

Sora found Cisseni before he found his Dad. They still had not officially met and Sora didn't feel like this was the right time. She must have had the same thoughts because nodded at him before leaving.

Before Sora saw his Dad, he heard him. He was crying. The brunette stepped from around the corner and saw his Dad, sitting in chair, alone. His shoulder's shook, with each soft sob.

Men, cry not for themselves, but for their comrades. Those were the words of Sora's Grandfather, Zack's father.

Sora quietly walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Zack showed no signs of acknowledgement, but he knew his son was there. The brunette then hugged his father, knowing that this is what he needed.

/…/

Sora closed his bedroom door, now fully dressed in his sleepwear. He drove his Dad home and made sure he was all right when he went to bed. After checking the time, Sora knew that he wasn't going to bed any time soon. He turned on his brand new laptop that was given to him by Rufus and sat in his desk chair.

After he walked out of the police station with his Dad's car keys in hand, Sora saw some of Kunsel's dead body being wheeled into an ambulance. The skin was pale. As pale as Riku's.

He signed on the internet and went to most favorite search engine. It has not failed him yet. He then took the book out of his back pack and opened it. He skimmed through the pages until he found two words that caught his eye.

Cold One.

Typed in the words and decided that he was feeling lucky. Google took him straight to the first page. First thing he saw was this creature with a really huge mouth. It was wide open and ready to devour the man that it was holding. Sora started to skim the text on the side. He saw nothing interesting.

At the bottom the page, Sora saw that were links to other places on the site. He clicked on a random one and saw another weird picture. Again, there was nothing interesting in the text. Another click, another weird picture, now there something interesting in the text.

Undead.

Another click.

Speed.

Riku was at Sora's side in instant, when he was on the other side of the lot.

Click.

Strength.

Riku stopped the crashing van with his hand and managed to put a dent in it.

Click.

Cold skinned.

Riku's hand was freezing when he was in warm place most of the time.

Click.

Immortal.

Click.

Drank blood.

Sora had asked him if he wanted to eat some his fries. Riku said he was on a special diet.

Click.

All this could only add up to one thing in Sora's mind. One impossible thing. The only word his eyes saw in the mess of letters.

Vampire.

Sora barely slept that night. He was and out of the house early for school. He stood by his car with his head phones in his ears. His fellow classmates started to arrive. As time went on, the crowd of students got bigger and bigger. They were all blurs to Sora. All but one.

Riku had arrived.

Sora started walking to him. He's a vampire, wouldn't he hurt him? Drink his blood? Kill him now that he knows?

No.

That's not how Riku is. If he was worried about Sora finding out, then he would have transferred to another school and avoided him completely. Riku would not hurt him.

Sora swiftly walked in front of him, continuing on his route to the woods.

Riku knew what this meant. Yuffie had warned him last night. Sora knew. Their friendship or whatever relationship they have depends on how they both react to this.

He followed the brunette into the woods.

/…/


End file.
